Will Namajunas Upset Joanna Again?
On November 4th, Rose Namajunas shocked the entire world by defeating the undefeated Strawweight champion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, in the first round by way of knockout. Namajunas has been on a rise, as she stands with a record of 7 wins and 3 losses.
Jedrzejczyk was on an amazing streak as well, with a record of 14 wins and no losses, with six of those wins as the defending champion. During her streak, Joanna defeated top talents such as Carla Esparza, Jessica Penne, Valérie Létourneau, Karolina Kowalkiewicz and Jéssica Andrade.
Jedrzejczyk has been considered as one of the greatest fighters and champions in UFC women’s history. Her striking is as accurate as a bullet hitting a target. In addition, she can take pain just as easily as she can deliver it, despite her loss against Namajunas, where it seemed as though Joanna became cocky and lost everything she worked for.
Namajunas has some of the best grappling in today’s world of MMA. Her fight with Paige VanZant is one of multiple examples where she kept the fight on the ground, got VanZant into a bloody mess, and then made her submit in the fifth round in dominant fashion.
If you think about it, Namajunas and Jedrzejczyk are similar to Frankie Edgar and BJ Penn, who had a feud over the Lightweight title at one point in time. Namajunas is more like Edgar (the younger fighter), whereas Joanna would resemble Penn (the legend). In this instance, Edgar defeated Benn on back-to-back occasions. If Namajunas can repeat the tale, you can consider her the next big thing in the UFC.
Esther Lin, MMA Fighting
